18 Apr
2002
18 Apr
'02
12:28 p.m.
Hi everybody,
I may have a line on a couple of (probably not yet on topic)
coke machine sized AS/400s in the Champaign area. I don't
think I have space for them, but I'd like not to see them get
ruined.
Please let me know if anyone would be interested in these things.
I'd like to have some people I could point them to who'd be willing
to take these either for some cost or not (depends on the guy who's
got the systems...), and save them from being shredded. :)
Don't know anything else at this point.
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl
Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
18 Apr
18 Apr
1:22 p.m.
Chris, if you get the chance can you find out if they're CISC or RISC
machines?
tnx.
g.
On Thu, 18 Apr 2002, Christopher Smith wrote:
Hi everybody,
I may have a line on a couple of (probably not yet on topic)
coke machine sized AS/400s in the Champaign area. I don't
think I have space for them, but I'd like not to see them get
ruined.
Please let me know if anyone would be interested in these things.
I'd like to have some people I could point them to who'd be willing
to take these either for some cost or not (depends on the guy who's
got the systems...), and save them from being shredded. :)
Don't know anything else at this point.
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl
Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
8:40 a.m.
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, Doc wrote:
Not necessarily. I find the amazing deals by doing the footwork and
looking at anything that seems too good to be true.
Peace... Sridhar
Chris, if you
get the chance can you find out if they're CISC or RISC
machines?
If it's "coke machine sized" and surplus, it's CISC. 
2:10 p.m.
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, Sridhar the POWERful wrote:
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, Doc wrote:
Not necessarily. I find the amazing deals by doing the footwork and
looking at anything that seems too good to be true.
You are, of course, exactly right. I should have said "probably". I
had forgotten that some of (all?) the rackmount RISC models are beige.
And cool, late-model stuff does escape into the wild now and then.
Doc
Chris, if
you get the chance can you find out if they're CISC or RISC
machines?
If it's "coke machine sized" and surplus, it's CISC. 
2:49 p.m.
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, Doc Shipley wrote:
You are, of course, exactly right. I should have
said "probably". I
had forgotten that some of (all?) the rackmount RISC models are beige.
And cool, late-model stuff does escape into the wild now and then.
None of the RISC AS/400s are beige. Barring yellow, red, purple, copper
or other colored accenting, RISC AS/400s are all black.
No AS/400 ever ran OS/390. None.
All CISC AS/400s ran OS/400 V3R2 or earlier. All.
OS/400 V4 may be transferred with the hardware.
No CISC AS/400s ran OS/400 V4. None.
OS/400 prior to V4 is not transferrable to other than the original owner.
Period.
Some RISC AS/400s ran OS/400 V3R6 or V3R7.
IBM licensing terms for OS/400 V3 state unequivocally that it must be
removed from the machine before de-installation. If IBM does the
de-installation, there is no software on your AS/400 that once ran V3,
whether CISC or RISC.
The cheapest OS/400 V4 license available from IBM currently, is for the
9406-170 (P05 processor class, 5 users). OS/400 for that system will run
you approximately $2500.
If you have a P20-class system, like a 9406-500, OS/400 will set you back
$26,000. A 9406-500 is still relatively small.
In 99% of the forseeable scenarios, a CISC AS/400 is less than worthless.
Without software installed, or original media (which is tied to a system
serial number), it is impossible to do anything with a CISC AS/400. You
cannot buy OS/400 V3 from IBM. They will tell you to scram.
It will not run Linux. It will not run NetBSD.
A RISC AS/400 that had been running V3 is nearly worthless. At least a
RISC AS/400 will run V4, which is (for now) still available from IBM,
though at a high cost.
IBM guards AS/400 software and IP very jealously.
FWIW the AS/400 is essentially the follow-on to the System/36, to the
point of having a highly-evolved software environment allowing S/36
applications to run un-modified on AS/400. Supposedly there is some
dotted-line relationship to S/38 as well, but I don't have any real
information about that.
Anything else?
ok
r.
5:55 p.m.
Some RISC AS/400s ran OS/400 V3R6 or V3R7.
Watch out how you throw arounds those "nevers", "alls", and
"nones".
Those words tend to bite people in the butt.
FWIW the AS/400 is essentially the follow-on to the
System/36, to the
point of having a highly-evolved software environment allowing S/36
applications to run un-modified on AS/400. Supposedly there is some
dotted-line relationship to S/38 as well, but I don't have any real
information about that.
The other way round, architecturally. AS/400 gained most from S/38 and
FS. The whole AS/400 family was designed to replace S/32, S/34, S/36, and
S/38.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
6:04 p.m.
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, William Donzelli wrote:
I chose them very carefully. For example, there are a small number of
CISC models in black.
But yes, it's an excellent point. (;
ok
r.
Some RISC
AS/400s ran OS/400 V3R6 or V3R7.
Watch out how you throw arounds those "nevers", "alls", and
"nones".
Those words tend to bite people in the butt. 
6:02 p.m.
On Friday 19 April 2002 19:49, r. 'bear' stricklin wrote:
A RISC AS/400 that had been running V3 is nearly worthless. At least a
RISC AS/400 will run V4, which is (for now) still available from IBM,
though at a high cost.
I have a pair of 9404's with terminals and networking hubs and cables.
Are there any parts in them that may be used in other systems?
Harddrives, tapedrives, chips?
6:21 p.m.
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, Mike wrote:
I have a pair of 9404's with terminals and
networking hubs and cables.
Are there any parts in them that may be used in other systems?
It depends on what the parts are. There is at least some chance, anyway.
Token ring is token ring (leaving out Apollos and at least as far as IEEE
802.5 is concerned). SCSI devices are, for the most part, SCSI devices. If
you want to get out a soldering iron, I'm sure the memory chips could be
salvaged. How much work do you want to do?
Can you use a twinax terminal with a Mac IIci? Probably not in a
foreseeably useful manner, anyway.
If you've got the cabling for the twinaxial workstation controller, you
could try sending it to Geoff Roberts, down in Australia.
ok
r.
20 Apr
20 Apr
2:38 a.m.
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, r. 'bear' stricklin wrote:
A lot of AS/400's use ESDI.
Peace... Sridhar
I have a pair
of 9404's with terminals and networking hubs and cables.
Are there any parts in them that may be used in other systems?
It depends on what the parts are. There is at least some chance, anyway.
Token ring is token ring (leaving out Apollos and at least as far as IEEE
802.5 is concerned). SCSI devices are, for the most part, SCSI devices. If
you want to get out a soldering iron, I'm sure the memory chips could be
salvaged. How much work do you want to do? 
19 Apr
19 Apr
6:35 p.m.
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, Mike wrote:
On Friday 19 April 2002 19:49, r. 'bear'
stricklin wrote:
I have a pair of 9404's with terminals and networking hubs and cables.
Are there any parts in them that may be used in other systems?
Harddrives, tapedrives, chips?
CISC 9404 and 9402's that I have seen typically have crappy 150MB oem
Tandberg QIC tape drives. Supposedly they are very finicky with their
SCSI-I. I never bothered to do much with mine.
The disk drives (if not too small to be useful) can be reformatted to 512
byte sectors and used elsewhere. I am using an IBM 0661 now from an
AS/400 in a Netbsd DECstation 5000/260 as a second drive.
I had a CISC 9402 which had normal looking SIMMs in it, tho I never
bothered to figure out if they actually did fit in anything else.
I have not had my mits on a RISC model to date.
--
18 Apr
18 Apr
1:25 p.m.
You know there's a scrapper across the road from the UPS center on Lincoln
Rd/Blvd (north side of I-74) that takes in computer & printer equipment,
sells by the pound. Have you ever been out there at all, they have a
separate building for non-automotive items.
=> -----Original Message-----
=> From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
=> [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Christopher Smith
=> Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 4:29 PM
=> To: Classiccmp (E-mail)
=> Subject: AS/400s in the Champaign area
=>
=>
=> Hi everybody,
=>
=> I may have a line on a couple of (probably not yet on topic)
=> coke machine sized AS/400s in the Champaign area. I don't
=> think I have space for them, but I'd like not to see them get
=> ruined.
=>
=> Please let me know if anyone would be interested in these things.
=> I'd like to have some people I could point them to who'd be willing
=> to take these either for some cost or not (depends on the guy who's
=> got the systems...), and save them from being shredded. :)
=>
=> Don't know anything else at this point.
=>
=> Chris
=>
=> Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
=> Amdocs - Champaign, IL
=>
=> /usr/bin/perl -e '
=> print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl
Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
=> '
=>
1:42 p.m.
If no one closer to you wants them let me know and I will plan a trip up
there.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher Smith" <csmith(a)amdocs.com>
To: "Classiccmp (E-mail)" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 4:28 PM
Subject: AS/400s in the Champaign area
Hi everybody,
I may have a line on a couple of (probably not yet on topic)
coke machine sized AS/400s in the Champaign area. I don't
think I have space for them, but I'd like not to see them get
ruined.
Please let me know if anyone would be interested in these things.
I'd like to have some people I could point them to who'd be willing
to take these either for some cost or not (depends on the guy who's
got the systems...), and save them from being shredded. :)
Don't know anything else at this point.
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl
Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
8125
days inactive
8127
days old
14 comments
10 participants
participants (10)
-
aw288＠osfn.org -
csmith＠amdocs.com -
doc＠mdrconsult.com -
geneb＠deltasoft.com -
jrkeys＠concentric.net -
kenziem＠sympatico.ca -
red＠bears.org -
rhb57＠vol.com -
thompson＠mail.athenet.net -
vance＠ikickass.org